Kiel lose in German cup

It was an outstanding series: For 1401 days THW Kiel were unbeaten in German cup matches, since 2003 they had been participating in every Final Four tournament, since 2005 the "Zebras" have won the German cup five times consecutively. But in 2010 they cannot defend their title.

It was the biggest surprise in the quarterfinals when THW was defeated very clearly 28:35 (12:21) by last year’s finalist VfL Gummersbach.

The host’s match winner was goalkeeper Goran Stojanović, who played an outstanding match. Gummersbach was dominating the match over the whole 60 minutes, right after the break they even led by ten goals (22:12).

Even as Kiel came closer in the middle of the second half, there was no doubt, that the quarterfinals would be the final destination for THW.

"It was a deserved victory for the Gummersbach side. They fought for their lives in this match, we were too passive," THW coach Alfred Gislasson said after the game.

The two other German Champions League participants qualified for the Final Four. Rhein Neckar Löwen won 33:29 (15:14) in Göppingen and will participate for the fifth consecutive time at the Final Four. Top scorer was Uwe Gensheimer, who scored 12 goals. The match was decided in minute 45, as the "Löwen" led 25:19.

With Pascal Hens scoring seven goals, HSV Hamburg still had some problems before beating second division team Bad Schwartau 36:29 (11:11). The fourth semi-finalist is TuS N-Lübbecke who beat second division team Bergischer HC 26:22 (11:12).

The German semi-finals were drawn Monday morning. HSV Hamburg will meet N-Lübecke and Rhein Neckar Löwen play VfL Gummersbach on April 10th at the Final Four tournament in Hamburg.